Cargill to build $200 million oil crushing plant in Russia

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Agribusiness Cargill Inc <CARG.UL> said on Thursday it plans to open a $200 million sunflower oil crushing plant in southern Russia in time for the 2015 harvest.

The "state-of-the-art" crushing facility is under construction in the town of Novoanninskiy in the Volgograd region, Cargill said. It will process up to 640,000 tons of sunflower seeds per year, according to the company.

Minneapolis-based Cargill is one of the world's largest privately held corporations and a top commodities trader. It has about 2,700 employees in Russia and 140,000 employees worldwide.

Cargill is among four "ABCD" companies that dominate the flow of agricultural goods around the world. The others are Archer Daniels Midland Co <ADM.N>, Bunge Ltd <BG.N> and Louis Dreyfus Corp <LOUDR.UL>.